I felt terrible this morning. I was weighed down with guilt and worry, and I felt very nauseous.

It was all his fault too. If he didn't send a cryptic message about doing something stupid, I wouldn't feel bad. I've heard that line so many times before, and it never ended well. To say my nerves were shot, was to say the least.

"Genna, you don't look to good. Had trouble sleeping again?" Caitlyn asked.

She looked cute today. She wore a plaid button-up with a white shirt beneath it and leggings with her classic black Vans. Her chestnut brown hair was loosely curled today, and she did her classic smokey eye look.

I chuckled. "When don't I have trouble sleeping?"

She rolled her eyes. "Today you look even more tired. You put more concealer on today that you normally do."

"Did I really?" I asked, panic in my voice. "Is it noticeable?"

"Not really. It doesn't look bad at all."

"Good," I relaxed.

"So, are you going to tell me why you didn't sleep last night?"

I sighed in annoyance. My reason for not sleeping seemed so stupid now. Of course he wouldn't do anything along the lines of what I was thinking. Grayson was too full of himself for that. He'd want to torment me some more. Unless he knew how to come back as a ghost, he couldn't do that if he wasn't alive.

Still, that small part of me said, he could be secretly depressed. How many friends hid their depression so well, that you didn't know until it was too late? You hardly know him.

"Promise you won't laugh," I told her.

"Can't do that," she shrugged.

I groaned. "Grayson texted me last night."

"You gave him your number?"

"No way. Ethan got it from Ms. Smith."

"Makes sense. So what were you guys talking about?"

"Nudes." I said simply.

She chuckled. "Figures. Finally using the hoards of nudes you have saved to your phone?"

"Shut up!" I hissed, covering her mouth.

"Did I hear that correctly?" A voice said from in front of us. We turned to see Cameron, Ethan, and Jack all sit down with their lunches. Cameron winked at me, and I rolled my eyes. "Does Genna have nudes to share?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," I sassed, taking a sip from my water bottle.

"I would," a deep voice said from behind me. Before I could turn around, a hand reached in front of me and squeezed my bottle. Water shot to the back of my throat, and I began to choke.

Laughter erupted around us, but I felt Caitlyn shoot to her feet in a flash.

Fuck. I quickly shot to my feet too, and began to restrain her. She was getting in Grayson's face now, and he sat there smirking.

"Touch my babe again! Touch my midget again and I will chop your dick off and staple it to your forehead. You'll be the fucking dildocorn if you touch my bitch again!" She shouted, drawing the attention of the entire cafeteria.

Cameron, Ethan, and Jack were on the floor laughing by now, and Grayson began to chuckle.

"I'd like to see you try, princess," Grayson said, smirking.

Oh shit. "Caitlyn no!"

Faster than lightning, Caitlyn had slapped Grayson. His head shot to the side. He didn't even have time to hold his cheek before she had a fistful of hair in his hand, yanking it back.

The boys had stopped laughing by now, but the rest of the cafeteria had phones out to record the beating, and were cheering her on.

"Don't you fucking dare call me 'princess'!" She growled, yanking his head back even more.

I wedged myself between the two and tried to push them apart. "Caitlyn! It isn't worth it! Let the little boy go, I think he's learned his lesson."

She clung on still, and after one final yank, she let go. She shot him the darkest look I've ever seen, and sits down. She's tapping her fake nails on the table, and I can almost feel the anger rolling off of her.

I sighed in annoyance, and started to head back to my seat.

"Yeah, sit down, bitch."

I didn't even think about a reaction. My body moved on its own accord. Before I knew it, the sharp smack echoed off of the stone walls of the cafeteria. Grayson's body fell to the ground, and now he was holding his cheek. The onlookers gasped, a chorus of "oh shit"s and "oooo"s erupting around us.

I was mad now. After all that had just happened, this idiot decided to still run his mouth? I figured he needed to be knocked down a few levels. Wouldn't want his ego to go to his head.

My heart hammered in my chest. I lunged for his crouched form, filled with the intent to fuck his shit up. Before I could even get within a foot of him, a strong arm wrapped around my waist and scooped me against a chest. A wave of masculine cologne hit my nose, and I growled.

"Let me go, Mason!" I screamed, kicking and clawing at his arms.

"You need to put your claws away, Kitten," he calmly said.

I hated it when he did this. He was the one to always restrain us when we were like this. I felt bad for him though. Mason was a really calm guy, who was a huge softie once you got to know him. He had to deal with Caitlyn's temper, and she flew off the deep end more than I did. I was usually the happy and sweet one.

"Mason let me go! He hurt Caitlyn!" I shouted, and I felt him go rigid.

I smirked. Any mention of Caitlyn and pain, emotional or physical, sent Mason into a frenzy. If a guy so much as looked at her funny, Mason was sure to be all over them. Usually it was annoying to both of us, but right now it worked in our favor.

"Tyler, hold her," Mason stiffly said, handing me over.

Another boy grabbed me, and I recognized the longer black hair and clear blue eyes in an instant. They belonged to the idiot who's been kicked out of Walmart so many times, he should be banned.

I heard a click, and I saw the flash of steel in Mason's hand. Fuck. "Mason no!"

"Mason David Westfall!" Caitlyn shrieked, grabbing his arm.

"Hey!" Ethan yelled. Cameron and him began to restrain Mason, and I saw Jack run off somewhere. Probably to go get help. They knew the danger Grayson was in now, and knew they needed to get him out of here.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Mason shouted, edging toward Grayson further.

"Dude put the knife away," Cameron said, putting his hands on Mason's shoulder and chest.

"Fuck off," Mason growled, pushing harder against them.

"Mason!" Caitlyn shrieked once again.

He seemed to finally snap out of it. He slowly blinked, and looked at her. She was trying to see beyond the broad shoulders of Ethan and Cameron, her eyes filled with worry. Tears threatened to spill.

The knife went into his pocket again, and his shoulders slumped. He had calmed down, but his breathing was still ragged; chest heaving.

Tyler's breathing was calm against my back, which I was grateful for. It calmed me down a lot, which was what I needed.

I felt someone staring at me, and I looked away to see Grayson staring at me. Poor guy looked bad. Both cheeks looked bruised already, and one was bleeding from Caitlyn's ring. His chest was heaving as well. It was kind of hot. What can I say? I liked guys who weren't afraid to get hurt.

His jaw clenched and unclenched. The veins in his arms were bulging, and I couldn't help but drool a bit.

"What is going on here!?"

Everyone jumped at the booming voice. We all turned to see our principal, Dr. Wright, standing there; red faced. He was beyond furious.

Suddenly the bell rung, and the crowd surrounding us scattered. Lucky them.

"You seven, come with me," was all Dr. Wright said before walking to the office.

We groaned, but all followed him.

"We're lucky we only got a week of detention," Caitlyn told me.

I snickered. "Yeah. With the damage we've done, we could've gotten suspended."

"I can't believe Mason made it down the halls that fast. Just shows how quick my boyfriend really is," Caitlyn said, cockily.

I snorted. "Quick to finish in bed."

Caitlyn burst into laughter, lightly slapping my arm. "You're not wrong."

We continued to walk to our classes. The meeting hadn't been long at all. We all had been yelled at after telling our stories. Thankfully the boys hadn't made up some lie about how they were innocent. They were bad, and they owned up to their crimes.

"You never did tell me why you couldn't sleep last night," she suddenly spoke.

I groaned. "Fine. You know how Grayson and I were texting?"

She nodded.

"Well, he said that he was going to do something stupid today. For some reason, I thought he was going to cut or commit suicide. I'm just too paranoid."

"You have a reason to be paranoid, though. After everything you've been through, it makes sense for you to worry."

We had reached my class, and we hung outside for a few seconds more. Without warning, Marcia engulfed me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around her and breathed in her familiar floral scent. "Don't worry too much, babe. It isn't worth it."

"I won't," I told her.

"Good," she said, pulling away.

She headed to her class, and I opened the door to Ms. Smith's class.